Hispanicize Texas: Because Representation is Important | @hispanicize

The Texas edition of Hispanicize – the largest annual event for Latino trendsetters and newsmakers in digital content creation, journalism, marketing, entertainment and tech entrepreneurship was held Saturday at Silver Street Studios.

I was honored to be invited to the Houston edition of Hispanicize this past weekend, an event designed as a launchpad for creative endeavors, new products, technologies, marketing campaigns, films, books and more targeting Latinos in the U.S. and/or Puerto Rico.

I’m not going to lie – the name “Hispanicize” was a little intimidating to me at first, as I wondered if there would be more people who looked like me at the event. I was delighted to see people from all backgrounds at the event, celebrating Hispanic culture and recognizing that representation matters in every field. The need for representation of all people of color in technology and marketing goes without saying, and this specific event was held especially by our brown brothers and sisters, but the environment was very welcoming.

Entertainment featured Latin dancers. (@hispanicizeevent)

Held at Silver Street Studios, the event packed out a full hall with vendors, free food, panel speakers, photo booths, and tons to look at for the most curious of attendees. It was a gathering of professionals of every age, ready to swap stories and tricks of the trade.

The first thing I noticed about the event was the lack of competition between speakers and vendors. It was a room full of people who genuinely supported each other and wanted to help the others run the game, realizing that one person’s success didn’t hinder their counterpart’s. Alex López Negrete of López Negrete Communications legacy was one of the organizers of the event, adding to the legitimacy of the event as a whole. Kaleidoscope Houston, a creative collaborative of art, film, and music was also present. Kaleidoscope has been responsible for several other gatherings of creatives and bloggers in Houston, so it was no surprise to see them supporting such an event.

Hopefully, we will see more events like Hispanicize for all people of color in the technology field. It can sometime seem as if there isn’t much representation, but Hispanicize proved otherwise.